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According to Nikkei News, SBI Group announced the acquisition of the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen (approximately 289 million USD). Through this acquisition, SBI's cryptocurrency custody balance is expected to exceed 1 trillion yen (about 6.2 billion USD), making it the largest cryptocurrency business in Japan. A subsidiary of SBI Holdings will acquire shares of Bitbank from individual shareholders, including the founders, in August, and then Bitbank will acquire shares held by existing shareholders Mixi and Ceres by the end of October. Combining the account data from SBI VC Trade (as of April), the total number of accounts after the merger is approximately 2.92 million, with total managed assets of about 1.1 trillion yen. SBI Holdings disclosed in May that it is negotiating capital business cooperation for the subsidiary status of Bitbank.

According to The Block, the U.S. Department of Justice has seized a cloud computing account used by Huione Group, which is accused of laundering billions of dollars in cryptocurrency scam proceeds. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva stated that the account constituted technical support, enabling the transfer and concealment of scam funds through Southeast Asian scam centers. This action is part of "Operation Choke Point," under which the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network had previously identified Huione Group as a primary money laundering concern.The statement claims that Huione's subsidiaries are suspected of assisting criminals in transferring funds from investment scams, cyber theft, and other illegal blockchain activities, ultimately injecting them into the legitimate banking system, with a significant amount of theft reportedly linked to North Korea. Huione's "Huione Guarantee" had previously posted advertisements for stolen credit cards, identity information, malware profits, and human trafficking services on Telegram channels. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic pointed out that Huione launched the stablecoin USDH under financial pressure last year and developed a proprietary product line that includes a decentralized exchange, wallets, and "Huione Chain" (Xone).

The South Korean payment platform KG Inicis announced that it will introduce stablecoin payments to the Solana blockchain and has signed a strategic cooperation memorandum (MOU) with the Solana Foundation.KG Inicis has an annual transaction volume exceeding 250 trillion won. This collaboration will combine its existing payment infrastructure and merchant network to promote the on-chain payment of digital assets. In the future, the platform will also launch a token-based merchant reward mechanism.Currently, South Korean payment giants are accelerating the exploration of stablecoin applications in real payment scenarios, and this collaboration with Solana is seen as an important layout in the field of on-chain payments.

According to the Nikkei, the SBI Group has obtained approval from the Financial Services Agency of Japan and plans to issue a yen-pegged stablecoin, JPYSC, within this week, becoming the first trust-type stablecoin in Japan.The stablecoin is issued by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank, with SBIVC Trade responsible for trading, and it is jointly developed with Singapore fintech company Startale Group. The SBI Group plans to deeply integrate JPYSC with its financial services, including securities, crypto assets, and banking, to enhance user convenience.

According to official news, MY Group has officially announced a strategic investment of 6 million USD in the AI financial project ANTON and has become its strategic investor.It is reported that this investment will be used to support ANTON's long-term development in areas such as the AI financial strategy library, BAS intelligent agent cluster, AT ecological liquidity, community network, and global market construction.MY Group stated that both parties will engage in deep collaboration around AI, Web 4.0, and AIFI to jointly promote the real implementation of the intelligent financial ecosystem and build future-oriented intelligent financial infrastructure.

According to Cointelegraph, three major crypto lobbying organizations—the Blockchain Association, the Crypto Innovation Council, and the Digital Chamber of Commerce—jointly wrote to the U.S. Congress, requesting the unaltered passage of the "Mining and Staking Tax Clarity Act" without further amendments. The bill allows miners and stakers to choose to pay taxes either when they receive crypto rewards or when they sell their assets, aiming to address liquidity issues caused by "taxation on phantom income."Democratic Congressman Steven Horsford proposed an amendment to limit the deferral of crypto reward taxes to five years, but the CEO of the Crypto Innovation Council stated that the amendment would "undermine" the bill and only generate "negligible revenue." The American Bankers Association opposes the bill, claiming it gives cryptocurrencies a "significant advantage," while crypto lobbying groups believe that renegotiating the already reached compromise will "revive the issues the bill aims to resolve."

According to Jinshi News, Baosheng Group expects the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged in 2026, while the European Central Bank will raise interest rates once more.

The second round of the World Cup group stage schedule is halfway through, with some teams having already secured or are close to securing qualification, while several teams still need to determine their fate in the third round. In today's matches, Spain defeated Saudi Arabia 4-0, Belgium drew 0-0 with Iran, Uruguay drew 2-2 with Cape Verde, and New Zealand lost 1-3 to Egypt. As the group stage enters a critical phase, situations where the pre-match high probability directions do not materialize are still frequently occurring, further amplifying the risk of unilateral positions for prediction market users.Base's native leverage prediction market OmenX officially launched the World Cup Hedge to Earn airdrop event today, currently distributing hedge positions to all Polymarket users with positions. After users connect their Polymarket wallets, OmenX will identify their eligible positions; if there are relevant events on the platform, corresponding hedge positions will be issued; if there are no matching relevant events, recommended position airdrops will be provided to help users experience hedging and position management.OmenX stated that Hedge to Earn aims to help prediction market users transition from "unilateral prediction" to "position management." For high-volatility events like the World Cup, users can obtain hedging rewards through OmenX, adding a layer of risk buffer to their existing Polymarket positions.

According to a report by South Korea's "Daily Economic News" on Friday, Hyundai Motor Group plans to acquire SoftBank Group's remaining 9.65% stake in Boston Dynamics for $325 million, making the American robotics company a wholly-owned subsidiary.Hyundai Motor is expected to hold a board meeting on June 22 to approve the acquisition. The report cited unnamed industry sources stating that SoftBank has notified Hyundai Motor of its intention to exercise the "put option" agreed upon during the previous sale of Boston Dynamics shares to sell its remaining holdings.

According to CoinPost, SBI Holdings completed a strategic investment in the global stablecoin payment and cryptocurrency trading platform Fasset in May 2026, and announced that its international remittance subsidiary SBI Remit signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Fasset. Both parties will jointly build a next-generation international remittance infrastructure based on stablecoin technology.Fasset is a digital bank focused on the Asian, Middle Eastern, and African markets, providing stablecoin settlement, remittance, and investment services through its own payment network "Own Network." It currently covers 125 countries and regions and has over 2 million users. The company completed a $51 million Series B financing in the same month, with investors including SBI Group, Bahrain asset management company Investcorp, and Turkey's Arz Portföy, among others.

According to ChainCatcher, all group stage matches of the World Cup have concluded. In today's final four matches, Portugal drew 1-1 with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, England defeated Croatia 4-2, Ghana won against Panama 1-0, and Colombia triumphed over Uzbekistan 3-1.From the overall performance of the first round, this World Cup has seen multiple instances where high-probability predictions before the matches did not materialize. Several popular teams were held to draws, and predictions that were considered "high probability" by the market ultimately resulted in losses, leaving many users with one-sided positions facing unexpected losses. For users in the prediction market, the first round of the World Cup once again proved that high probability does not equal low risk, and one-sided positions require hedging tools.Base's native leveraged prediction market OmenX has recently launched a new Hedge to Earn initiative, with the first phase open to Polymarket position holders. Users can receive corresponding hedging position rewards on OmenX, allowing them to add a layer of risk protection to existing predictions at a lower capital cost, and manage their positions more flexibly in the event of popular outcomes failing, significant market fluctuations, or last-minute trend reversals.OmenX stated that Hedge to Earn is a new growth initiative launched by the platform around leveraged prediction markets, aimed at helping users transition from "one-sided predictions" to "position management." The initiative is currently ongoing, and users can hedge, adjust positions, and manage risks on OmenX regarding World Cup outcomes, championship titles, and popular sports events.

According to Jinshi reports, Citigroup expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by 25 basis points in October, December 2026, and January 2027, previously predicting rate cuts in September, October, and December of this year.

Terence Duffy, the outgoing CEO of the CME Group, stated that the company will sue the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Thursday because the latter approved the prediction market platform Kalshi to launch Bitcoin perpetual futures products.

According to market news, CME Group CEO Terry Duffy is about to step down. Possibly influenced by this, CME Group's stock price fell 4% in pre-market trading.CEO Terry Duffy had previously expressed "great concern" about the recently approved perpetual contracts by U.S. regulators, stating that perpetual contracts have almost no practical use for institutional investors while exposing retail traders to excessive risk. Additionally, he expressed that he "completely disagrees" with the CFTC's decision to approve the first batch of crypto perpetual contracts after a rapid review, warning that perpetual contracts and prediction markets are triggering a speculative frenzy among retail investors.

According to BBX data, yesterday's interest rate hike in Japan coincided with the Federal Reserve's decision window, creating the most intense macroeconomic shock point of the week. The latest results of institutional stablecoin research were released on the same day, with the core dynamics as follows:Metaplanet Inc. (TSE: 3350), as the largest corporate BTC reserve holder in Asia and the third largest publicly traded company holding Bitcoin globally (holding 40,177 BTC at an average price of about $104,000, with a target of 100,000 BTC by the end of 2026), faced a dual-edged sword pressure from the exchange rate yesterday: after the Bank of Japan announced a 25 basis point increase in the policy interest rate to 1.0%, the yen strengthened, superficially lowering the book value of BTC denominated in yen, but Bitcoin subsequently rose against the trend (CoinDesk's headline on the same day: "Bitcoin rallies after Japan rate increase"), with actual improvements in USD-denominated holdings. The company's current holdings are approximately $2.64 billion (estimated at $65,750/BTC), with the latest capital move being the issuance of 8 billion yen (about $55 million) for the 20th bond (EVO FUND) on April 24 for additional BTC purchases. Analysts warn that if the BOJ's interest rate hike triggers large-scale unwinding of "Yen Carry Trade," global risk assets including BTC may suffer systemic deleveraging shocks—however, Metaplanet holds physical BTC rather than leveraged positions, with its main risk being the exchange rate conversion effect rather than forced liquidation.OSL Group (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 0863.HK) and the School of Business at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University jointly released a white paper on June 16 (The Block included it on the same day at 9:01 am EDT), titled "Cross-Border Trade Payments Will Drive the Adoption of Regulated Corporate Stablecoins." The core conclusion is that the demand for corporate-level cross-border trade payments is the main path to drive the large-scale adoption of regulated stablecoins, with importance surpassing retail consumption scenarios. OSL Group holds the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission licenses 7 (automated trading services) and 1 (securities trading), making it one of the few compliant exchanges globally with both institutional custody and practical experience in stablecoin settlement. Previously, it provided institutional clients with approximately $130 million in USDGO stablecoin settlement services in April 2026. This white paper provides an industrial basis for the stablecoin policy framework of Hong Kong's financial regulatory authorities, and, together with Visa's stablecoin settlement of $7 billion annualized scale, SoFi SoFiUSD's launch, and Western Union's USDPT layout, constitutes multiple points of evidence accelerating the global adoption of corporate stablecoins.

According to Bloomberg, Principal Mineral is acquiring Isola Group, which is supported by Cerberus Capital Management. Isola primarily produces key materials needed for printed circuit boards (PCBs), which are widely used in electronic products such as automobiles, airplanes, and AI servers. Based in Dallas, USA, Principal Mineral is committed to building a localized PCB supply chain system. The company did not disclose the specific transaction amount for the acquisition of Isola Group.Meanwhile, Principal Mineral also announced that it has secured approximately $280 million in new financing to expand its operations. This round of financing was led by Overmatch Ventures and The New Industrial Corp.

According to official news, Michael S. Selig, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced two senior personnel appointments: Donald Battle as Chief Data Innovation Officer, serving in the data department and joining the innovation working group; J Matthew Haws as Senior Advisor to the Chairman's Office and Head of the Chicago Region.Among them, Battle previously served in the cryptocurrency working group and the data science group of the enforcement division at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), possessing experience in blockchain forensics, data science, and anti-money laundering; Haws has over 13 years of legal and compliance experience in the derivatives market.

According to a report by Crowdfund Insider, the first public report released by the G7 Central Bank Quantum Technology Working Group (QTWG) indicates that quantum computing technology could have a profound impact on the global financial system, particularly posing structural challenges in the fields of data encryption and cybersecurity. The working group was established in 2025, co-led by the Bank of France and the Bank of Canada, with members including the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, and major central banking institutions from Germany, Italy, and others.The report points out that although quantum computers capable of breaking encryption have not yet emerged, there is a general belief in the industry that the likelihood of their appearance within the next decade is increasing, which poses potential risks to existing financial infrastructure that relies on traditional encryption algorithms. One core risk is referred to as the "collect now, decrypt later" strategy, which involves the long-term storage of currently encrypted financial data, with the intention of decrypting it once quantum computing capabilities mature, potentially threatening the long-term data security of the financial system.The report recommends that financial institutions in various countries proactively compile a list of their reliance on encryption systems and gradually assess the feasibility of transitioning to post-quantum cryptography, while also strengthening inter-agency coordination to reduce systemic risk exposure. In terms of opportunities, quantum computing is expected to enhance the computational capabilities of financial institutions in areas such as risk modeling, portfolio optimization, macroeconomic forecasting, and stress testing, but its practical application still depends on technological maturity and scaling progress.Analysts believe that this report marks the beginning of G7 central banks systematically incorporating quantum technology into their financial stability assessment framework, which may drive long-term upgrades of global financial infrastructure at the encryption and computational architecture levels.

According to a report by Jiemian News, Ant Group is secretly testing an AI version of Alipay, which disrupts the original user interaction and allows users to access a native AI interface with one click, achieving intelligence in service and fund management.The news states that the launch time for the new version is not yet determined. Ant Group declined to comment.